


What If We Say Goodbye To Safe And Sound

by metaphoricallylivin



Series: Earth 25: Oh, Yeah I'm An Ugly Mess [8]
Category: DCU
Genre: Autistic Character, Jewish Character, M/M, Referenced Masturbation, Trans Character, batfamily, gay ass shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-02 17:18:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10949142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metaphoricallylivin/pseuds/metaphoricallylivin
Summary: Toby was 16 when he met the Titans. They had come to town for a reason that he could almost not understand. There was no terrible tragedy, no world shattering cataclysm, and it was almost peaceful in Gotham. The Joker was dead, Jason had put a whole clip into his head before leaving town with a hug to Toby and dropping him off with Leelah and Babs.





	What If We Say Goodbye To Safe And Sound

**Author's Note:**

> TW for mentioned death. Also like kissing and romance? Idk this fic is pretty clean.
> 
> Fic title from Youth by Troye Sivan cuz gay.

Toby was 16 when he met the Titans. They had come to town for a reason that he could almost not understand. There was no terrible tragedy, no world shattering cataclysm, and it was almost peaceful in Gotham. The Joker was dead, Jason had put a whole clip into his head before leaving town with a hug to Toby and dropping him off with Leelah and Babs. He’d said he’d needed space. Toby understood that, he’d crossed a life, he’d tried to kill the Joker and Jason had done. The city, despite there being a power vacuum due to the Joker dying, was relatively calm.

 

When Cass and Toby were on Patrols with Duke they got a call from Steph over the comms.

 

“The Teen Titans are in town, with Tim. Bruce is yelling at Tim right now so… Maybe you guys should come over here,” Steph said, her speech was half obscured by whatever was in her mouth.

 

“Why are you eating on comms? C’mon Steph that’s just cruel,” Duke said.

 

“If you were offered brown sugar waffles you’d take them too,” Steph said, likely around a mouthful of waffles.

 

Cass rolled her eyes.

 

“We'll head over there right now,” Toby said. He turned to Duke and smiled. He always loved motorcycles. 

 

Cass’s motorcycle was sleek and black. It could cut through the night, while seemingly blending into it. Toby loved it. Even though his bright red costume ruined the covertness of Cass’s whole vibe it felt awesome to speed through Gotham at speeds faster than anything else.

 

The batcave wasn’t a place Toby got to visit. Jason wasn't really someone who got invited there often and usually he would leave Toby behind. Duke had been the one to bring him after a particularly brutal patrol. Toby was half unconscious when Duke and him stumbled in. The next morning he had left and he hadn't been back since, he wasn't a member of the Batfamily.

 

Steph perked up when she saw them, she was spinning in the Batcave chair while stuffing mashed potatoes into her mouth. A variety of kids were sitting all over the room, sprawled out. Far away he could hear the sound of Batman yelling.

 

“Toby! It's great to see you,” Steph said, she launched herself at Toby and hugged him so long it was almost hard to breathe. Steph didn't ask before hugs, it was something Toby was almost used to.

 

“Great to see you too,” Toby said, patting Steph on the back a few times, trying not to make it clear to all the new people that he was the Awkward Autistic™.

 

Toby scanned over the room. Duke often joked that he should be called Hawk, not Cardinal because he could spot everything in a room. He wasn't a good detective, but he was always aware of what was going on around him. He spotted Kryptonite and a blush set in, rising towards his cheeks. Toby had a picture of Kryptonite on his bedroom wall, he jacked off to the picture sometimes even. God, this was gonna be awkward.

 

[What’s wrong]

 

Cass could notice anything wrong with anyone. It didn't matter that Toby’s ears were tinged red she could tell without that.

 

“Nothing,” Toby’s voice was sharp, Cass wasn't exactly the friend he wanted to talk about how his celebrity crush of sorts was 20 feet away from him.

 

Cass narrowed her eyes, but eventually turned away and towards Steph. She gave her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek and hugged her for almost a good minute. Duke meanwhile was grinning under his visor-mask-thingy.

 

“So a certain Kryptonian being in the room has nothing to do with your discomfort,” Duke whispered. He was grinning and Toby almost wanted to punch him. This was payback for all his shit with Alysia.

 

“ _ No _ ,” Toby said.

 

“Oh well then, you don't care if I call him over here. Hey! Kon! You should come meet Cardinal, he's a  _ big,  _ no huge even, fan of yours,” Duke said. He was grinning happily.

 

“I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,” Toby said as Kryptonite, no Kon, flew over towards them. He kept it quiet, but he knew that Duke could hear him.

 

“Hi, Toby, right? I'm Kon-El, you might know me better as Superboy or Kryptonite?” Kon said. Toby noticed his hair was impossibly more amazing in real life. He had nice muscles and broad shoulders and, holy shit, he had piercings.

 

“H-hi,” Toby said. He wanted to pull up his hood so far that he disappeared inside it. A guy that beautiful would probably never, ever, in a million years even while drunk go for Toby.

 

“You do good work too. The costume is pretty cool,” Kon said. He was smiling and he looked so damn cool.

 

“Thanks. Love your suit, the redesign totally works for you. I've always loved the classic look, but this is way better,” Toby said.

 

“Thank you. Is there something I can call you other than Cardinal?” He was charming, Toby had to give him that.

 

“Toby, Toby is good. Great even.” Toby could hear Duke laughing. He probably sounded like a complete dork.

 

“Well Toby, do you want the number for my phone? In case you ever wanna hang out?” Kon asked. Toby knew that hang out was superhero code for team ups, but part of him wished that it meant go to the movie theaters and make out an indecent amount.

 

“Sure, just put it in here,” Toby said before taking out his phone. It was a bright red, practically indestructible, superhero issued phone. It was in an incredibly gay looking case that said “Y’all means ALL” in rainbow print. “I’m gay. That's why I have the case.”

 

“I'm bi,” Kon said, before smiling and entering his number.

 

A hot fashion icon who wasn't straight, the world was blessing Toby while simultaneously intensifying his thirst.

 

Kon handed Toby back his phone before saying goodbye and heading back towards the rest of his friends. Kon had put his name in as “Kon” with a House of El crest emoji and a fist emoji. Somehow, that made him even more endearing to Toby.

 

* * *

 

Two weeks later Kon came to visit Toby. They'd been texting and Toby wasn't sure if he was crossing the line between friendship and flirting. He hoped that Kon didn't notice his overuse of heart emojis and he seemed not to. He'd come in town for a good old fashioned team up and some fun. He was also planning on hanging out with Duke and Steph while he was in town before visiting Metropolis across the bay.

 

He crawled in Toby’s window when he was half asleep, managing to trigger an alarm.

 

“Oracle, override code Mountain Dew,” Toby said once he woke up. Cass had made it his override code as a joke, but it had stuck.

 

“This place is like Fort Knox,” Kon said.

 

“No, it's even more secure,” Toby said. He paused before taking off his shirt and heading over to the closet to change.

 

Toby was eternally grateful he wasn't at his room at Jason’s apartment. He didn't quite wanna see his new friend to be aware of his thirst for him. Kon turned around and Toby paused before remembering that Kon probably wasn't okay with seeing friends half naked. Which he didn't quite understand because didn't Superman have X-Ray vision, it wasn't any different than that?

 

From there he quickly changed, he put on the high impact sports bra he used for training and patrols, his undershirt, and pants.

 

“You can turn around,” Toby said. His voice was matter of fact.

 

“Where's the hoodie?” Kon asked. He was in full gear, from the leather jacket to bright red combat boots.

 

“I usually put it on just before I leave and I wanna eat,” Toby said before motioning for Kon to follow him. 

 

Toby made two protein shakes and set them down, making a bagel with loxs. 

 

“What do you like on your bagel?” Toby asked. Cass liked cinnamon cream cheese and Babs liked them toasted with butter.

 

“Uh… plain?” Kon asked. He scratched the back of his head, seemingly puzzled.

 

“Have you ever had a bagel?” Toby asked.

 

“Yeah, C-Superman took me to synagogue once and they had them. I didn't like the fish. When Ma takes me to synagogue they have cheesecake,” Kon said before making a humming noise, as though cheesecake was the epitome of all things good.

 

“Okay, plain it is,” Toby said. He slid the plain bagel to Kon and readied Cass and Babs’ bagels, cutting Bab’s into a möbius strip, knowing it was her favorite way to cut bagels.

 

Kon ate his bagel and slurped down his protein shake, smiling and thanking Toby for it when he was finished. He was polite if nothing else. 

 

After Cass came and wordlessly ate her bagel before smiling and heading to put on her costume.

 

Before they left Toby put on his sweatshirt and his shoes, checking his utility belt for everything. Inhaler, knife, protein bar, taser, rebreather, some money, and grappling hook. He put on his gloves last, they were black and fingerless, most of their point was in protecting his knuckles when he punched someone in the face.

 

“You ready?” Kon asked, running his fingers through his short hair. It was curly and had streaks of blue and red running through it.

 

“Yeah. Do you want a tour of Gotham?” Tony asked.

 

“Depends, how is this tour going to end?” Kon asked. Toby was completely sure he was flirting with him now.

 

“With some criminals getting punched in the face, anything else is up to you,” Toby said.

  
  


The first place Toby took him was to the East End. He'd been scouting out a drug ring there, with Jason out of town drug dealers were selling to kids again. This was the main group doing so. Toby figured a couple well place super punches would get it through their thick skulls that kids were off limits.

 

Kon sat on the rooftop next to Toby as he surveyed the terrain. Toby had adjusted his domino mask lenses to night vision mode and was watching the world below him.

 

“This is their supply house, we blow up all the drugs they have and I have some spray paint for a message,” Toby said.

 

“You really had this planned out,” Kon said, almost surprised.

 

“I've been working on this for weeks, if you weren't here I would've done this with Red Justice,” Toby said.

 

“Red Justice?” Kon asked, quirking an eyebrow.

 

“She's another member of the Red Hood Gang,” Toby said. He didn't want to give Leelah’s secret identity away.

 

Kon nodded slightly and Toby went back to watching.

 

“Okay, go time. Imma sneak down and around, you hover in the sky and wait for my signal,” Toby said before getting off of the building using his grappling hook.

 

Kon chilled out in the sky, enjoying the bright lights of the city. Gotham was pretty despite the ugliness it hid. Looking at it from above was nice. A minute later he got the signal over the comms, it was time.

 

Kon barreled through the door like a bullet, distracting the guards while Toby snuck around and planted the explosives then quickly spray painted “DON’T SELL TO KIDS” in red spray paint. The D and the K were backwards, but the message was clear. No one in Gotham gets kids hooked on drugs.

 

Toby told him to draw them out so Kon subtly moved the fight until they were outside. Kon waited until he got the cue and he flew up into the sky as Toby clicked the button. The explosion was so loud. disorienting Kon for a couple seconds, he wobbled in the air before regaining his composure.

 

Toby was smiling when he found him. Hands on his hips, the lenses on his mask reflecting the fire, he looked smug and cute at the same time.

 

“Where to next?” Kon asked, he wrapped an arm around Toby’s shoulders and smiled.

 

“Chili dogs,” Toby said.

 

“Why chili dogs?” Kon asked, that was, at least in his opinion, a weird followup to blowing up a stash of drugs.

 

“There's a really good chili dog place a couple blocks from here. I took care of their problem with the mob and the owner insists that I eat free for life,” Toby said. He would occasionally go as a civilian and tip wildly well.

 

Kon nodded and followed Toby. As Toby walked down the street he occasionally paused to ask people if they were okay. A guy was giving a woman waiting at a bus stop a hard time so Toby paused. He stared down one of the guys. Despite not being an official member of the Batfamily he sure had their glare down.

 

The woman was shrinking away from the guys, taking up as little space as possible, seemingly in hopes that they'd leave. She was clutching her backpack hard. She seemed to be maybe two or three years older than them and she was still in her work uniform.

 

“Leave her alone or you'll find out how much getting tased in the face hurts,” Toby said, jutting out one hip and pointing to the men.

 

The guys looked at eachother for a couple seconds before one of them laughed.

 

“Hey, kid, how old are you?” one of the men asked.

 

“Old enough to kick your ass!” Toby said. His voice was almost cutely determined. 

 

“Okay, maybe I'll give you the opportunity,” one of them said before rushing at Toby. Toby easily dodged him and then landed a kick in the crook of his knee. The man hit the ground.

 

A couple of seconds later another one of them rushed at Toby and he landed a punch before Toby kicked his feet out from under him. The last guy shook a little before he bolted, the two others quickly following him.

 

“Do you want us to stay with you?” Toby asked.

 

The girl nodded and Toby and Kon stood next to her until the bus arrived. They then continued towards the chili dog place. Toby and Kon walked in and a minute later walked out with two strawberry lemonades and four chili dogs. They picked a roof down the street, it was the tallest building nearby and Kon floated up. Toby decided to get up the hard way, climbing.

 

They sat next to each other and atetheir chili dogs. There's a couple condiment containers filled with toppings, raw onions and mustard for Toby and cheese and sautéed onions for Kon.

 

They ate them in silence, enjoying the view. Toby wolfed down two and Kon did the same and by the time it was am and the sky was dark blue. Kon placed a hand over Toby’s and Toby moved to hold Kon’s.

 

“Can I kiss you?” Kon asked, he leaned forward.

 

Toby nodded and met him, kissing him gently and without too much force. Kon kissed him back, he briefly didn't quite know what to do with his arms before deciding go with looping them around Toby’s shoulders.

 

“That was awesome,” Toby said when they drew back.

 

“Thanks, I've been told I'm a great kisser more than once,” Kon said, waggling his eyebrow.

 

“Do you wanna make out more?” Toby asked.

 

Kon smiled and nodded enthusiastically. Kissing Toby was fun and he was hot. Red was definitely his color, a fact that he clearly knew. After a couple minutes of kissing Kon moved his hand under Toby’s sweatshirt, feeling the warm skin under it. Toby seemed to radiate warmth in more than one way.

 

A minute later Toby seemed to almost jump.

 

“There's chatter on the comms,” Toby said.

 

“Yeah? What're they saying?” Kon asked, he was only half paying attention.

 

A couple seconds later Toby’s face fell and his eyes darkened. Whatever was going on it wasn't good.

 

“You okay?” Kon asked.

 

“Yeah, um, we need to stop. Steph just said that Batman is dead. We need to get to the Batcave, they want us all to regroup,” Toby said.

 

“Oh shit,” Kon said.

 

“Yeah. Can you drop me off back home, I'll find my way to the Batcave from there. I'm really sorry, I like you, but,” Toby trailed off, seemingly lost in thought.

 

“I understand, this is more important,” Kon said.

 

“Thank you. I'm serious, I like you a lot, but if Batman is dead this town is going to hell quick, we need a strategy,” Toby said before kissing Kon chastely.

  
Kon lifted him up and they flew back to the Clocktower. Toby crawled in the window and headed to the garage to get onto one of the bikes. He needed to get to the Batcave, he had a feeling they would need him.

**Author's Note:**

> As always tell me what y'all think. Your comments fuel me.


End file.
